Joe Brady, Josh Allen Support Embattled Bills WR
The Buffalo Bills have made Keon Coleman look pretty bad lately, but new coach Joe Brady and QB Josh Allen have tried to make up for it. The 33rd overall pick in the 2024 draft has underwhelmed thus far, and that came to a head with some really strange behavior from the front office after their playoff exit.
Coleman had one touchdown in that eventual overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, but he also dropped another would-be touchdown pass from Allen. Nevertheless, Allen and the team's new head coach have come to his defense.
Josh Allen speaks up for Keon Coleman
The Buffalo Bills drafted Keon Coleman to be Josh Allen's WR1. They traded back twice in 2024 and landed with the 33rd pick, and their pre-draft process gave them a ton of reasons to be excited that they'd land the wide receiver.
He has struggled and come under fire from ownership, but Allen has his wide receiver's back. It was always weird that the Bills were publicly commenting negatively on a player still on the roster. Now, some have spoken up for him.
"I'm not going to give up on [Coleman]," Allen said via ESPN. "He's got too much ability, and I will not give up on him. We're going to work tirelessly, him and me, and so will everybody else in this building, to make sure that whenever we step foot on the field, that we're going to find ways to win football games. And he's going to be part of that."
The Bills fired Sean McDermott after their playoff loss. When the lack of talent on offense was brought up after Brandon Beane's shocking promotion, owner Terry Pegula pinned the blame for Coleman on McDermott, which reflects poorly on everyone.
Pegula claimed Beane was "pushed to draft Keon" in 2024 and praised the GM for "being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player." However, pre-draft videos surfaced after that show how enamored Beane was with Coleman.
If that was the case, then the GM wasn't responsible for player acquisition, or he was playing second fiddle to a coach in that area, which is not ideal. Either way, it was a weird, inappropriate way to refer to an active player.
Joe Brady chimes in
Part of this odd offseason saga with the Bills has been the promotion of Joe Brady, the offensive coordinator who is just 36 years old. That move raises some questions as well, but the first thing Brady did as a coach was go to bat for his embattled wide receiver.
Brady called it a "learning year" for Keon Coleman. "He's going to continue to grow, but the elements that we saw in the draft process -- the confidence that I have in him and his ability -- and as long as he's handling what he needs to do off the field, I have no doubt that he's going to be successful on the field," Brady said.
Brady tried not to step on Pegula's toes, saying the owner can do what he wants to do, but he did want to reiterate his support for the wide receiver. "Keon Coleman is going to be on our football team, and I have no issues with, if there [are] elements that need to be cleaned up from that, those are conversations that we can have," he added. "But Keon knows how I feel about him; how much I love him and the faith that I still have in him."
For what it's worth, since the owner's comments, Beane has reportedly also reached out to Coleman. He is looking forward to seeing how the young player grows in 2026.
